


Quarter-life crisis

by becstothefecsio



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23314153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becstothefecsio/pseuds/becstothefecsio
Summary: Quarter-life crisis is defined by clinical psychologist Alex Fowke as "a period of insecurity, doubt and disappointment surrounding your career, relationships and financial situation" And, this is the story of how Beca met Jesse right in the middle of her quarter-life crisis. (Rated Mature for non-explicit suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, and coarse language.)
Relationships: Beca Mitchell/Jesse Swanson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

A very hungover Beca sat on a stool in her shared kitchenette with Fat Amy and Chloe while looking at her bank account balance. She took a sharp breath at her recent transactions and regretted every single penny she spent the night before. Things did not look good.

"You're up early." The chipper voice of Chloe broke her train of thoughts who had just entered the apartment and could see her since the apartment was the size of a shoebox.

"Yeah, not by choice," Beca grumbled, closing the lid of her computer and bringing her mug of coffee to her lips. —when they got home drunk off their asses, both Fat Amy and Beca crashed on the same bed that was Beca's. Fat Amy rolled over her and squashed her in the process.

"I didn't hear you when you came home, when did you get home last night?" Chloe continued to ask as she pulled the fridge door open and grabbed a bottle of water.

"I'm not sure." Beca watched Chloe drown the bottle then said, "Where do you find the energy to go out for runs on weekends?"

Chloe shrugged and gave no worded answer, proceeding to take off her sports bra.

"Jesus, Chloe, I thought we agreed on keeping our clothes on when we're around each other," Beca deadpanned, tilting her head to look away.

"It's sticky," Chloe complained.

"Take it off in the bathroom before you hop into the shower, weirdo," Beca reasoned and grabbed her phone when it vibrated, rolling her eyes when she saw that her mother was calling her.

"Who are you ignoring this fine morning?" Chloe asked, resting her elbows on the counter, facing Beca.

"Mom. All she wants to talk about these days is my love life and how all of her friends' kids are married and are having babies… Somehow the fact that I haven't jumped on the married life train affects her."

"Well, you can't jump on the married life train when you don't even have a boyfriend," Chloe noted.

"Mom doesn't know that," Beca mumbled, sipping her coffee.

"Your mother thinks you're in a relationship?"

"I told her I am just so she would leave me alone and she did for a few months," she sighed. "Now she wants me to bring the said guy home." Beca rubbed her temple, tilting her head for a second before she looked away again. "For the love of God, could you _please_ put something on?"

"No," Chloe answered curtly. "You can't lie about something like this, Becs."

"I know. It's just Mom doesn't get it. She doesn't get that I don't even think about marriage. I don't think about finding Mr. Right. I'm not even sure there is a Mr. Right for me and that's fine." She shrugged. "It's just easier to tell her what she wants to hear."

"You're wrong." Chloe straightened up. "Mr. Right is out there somewhere. You just haven't met him yet. Or you have and you busted his balls and he's now afraid to talk to you." She sighed. "So, what are you gonna do? Rent a boyfriend and take him home to meet your mother?"

Beca rolled her eyes at her friend's words. "I'll tell her it didn't work out between us if she insists."

"Then lie again about meeting someone?" Chloe guessed.

"Maybe." Beca shrugged.

"I love you but I don't like the way you're handling this. It's very immature and you're way better than this," Chloe firmly said before she began making her way to the bathroom.

Beca felt bad for lying to her mother and knew Chloe was a 100% right but she wasn't ready to get into a conversation about her love life with her mother and was going to postpone coming clean for as long as she could.

* * *

Work was a bitch, especially when you're only doing it for the money. Jesse promised himself that he was going to quit the moment he got an opportunity to do what he really loved and went to school for. It was a matter of time. His days waiting tables won't be long. His days putting up with rude costumers won't be long.

"Would you like a refill?" he was asking the costumer that he noticed had become a regular at the coffee place recently.

"Yeah, thank you," she answered, politely smiling at him.

He nodded and refilled her mug of coffee, quickly taking in her appearance: she was wearing an over-sized band t-shirt and flannel plaid lounge pants. She was in pajamas he soon figured.

"You live nearby?" he found himself asking.

"Eh, yeah," she replied. "I live upstairs, actually."

' _Huh.'_ He thought it was weird that she lived so close yet only recently had become a regular.

"So, you can't be here for the free Wi-Fi," he joked, smiling a little when he heard her snort.

"Coffee is great… and cheap," she told him, bringing the mug to her lips.

"I wish I lived close to work. Is there a vacancy in the building?" He didn't know why he was making small talk with the costumer when he should be doing his work.

"Not that I know of but I can give you the landlord's contact information if you want."

"Thank you." He wasn't planning to move out from his place, his roommates were great, besides the job was temporary. "I'm Jesse by the way," he introduced himself.

"I know," she nodded at the name tag on his shirt as she took a sip of coffee.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, neighbor from upstairs," he said before he left her table, resuming his work.

When he was getting ready to leave a co-worker of his approached him while holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"A costumer left this for you," she told him.

He accepted the piece of paper and quickly read it. "Thanks, Megan." He folded the paper containing the contact information of the building's landlord and stuffed it in his wallet.

Jesse regretted not asking for _her_ contact information. She was nice to him and other waiters, which was always a great sign that she was a good person.

He decided as he started to make his way out of the coffee place that next time he saw her he was going to ask her out.

"Hey." He didn't expect to run into her as soon as he exited the coffee place. "Um, I get that our coffee is cheap but you shouldn't be drinking so much coffee, it's not good for you heart," he told her and received an eye roll in response.

"I think I dropped my keys in there." She nodded behind him.

"Oh. I'll help you look for them." He opened the door and stepped back inside. "Thanks." He heard her say.

He helped her look for a while and couldn't find them. "Do you remember the last time you saw your keys?" he asked.

"No. Not really." She scratched her head.

"C'mon, you spent the whole day here. If they're not here they're in your building probably or on the sidewalk."

* * *

They looked on the sidewalk and found nothing.

"Dude, you don't have to wait with me. My roommates won't take forever," she was saying as Jesse leaned against the wall.

"It's fine. I don't have anything to do." He frowned when she wrapped her arms around herself. "You must be freezing." He shook his head for being such an idiot and not noticing sooner. It was late in the evening and it was getting colder every day.

"Here," he was saying as he shrugged off his coat.

"Dude, no. Keep your coat on."

He paused for a second. "Well, then get in here we'll share." She eyed him suspiciously but obliged. She was so small that it wasn't that hard to keep her warm.

"This isn't weird at all," she deadpanned.

"Nope. Totally normal." He rested his chin on her head. "I've kept strangers warm before, if you know what I mean."

"Shut up," she snickered.

He smiled to himself then tilted his head when someone stepped out of the building.

"Mr. Robin, thank god," she exclaimed, catching the man's attention.

"Beca, hello," he answered, glancing at Jesse for a second before he looked back at Beca who explained to him briefly what happened.

The man offered to let Beca stay in his apartment until her roommates showed up but Beca declined. She was just glad that she wouldn't have to wait outside anymore.

Despite how warm it was, Beca stepped away from Jesse and rushed inside the building while Jesse stood on the sidewalk his eyes falling on the hot dog stand at the end of the street.

"Hey, Beca, are you hungry?" he asked. He knew he was.

She shrugged, following his gaze. "I could eat."

"Hold the door, I'll be back in a minute," he said to which she nodded. "Okay."

He ended up, making a stop at a deli and purchasing juice pouches.

* * *

"How old are you?" Beca asked in amusement once they sat down on the floor near the door of her apartment, after looking around for her keys and failing to find them, to eat and Jesse held a juice pouch her way.

"How old do you think I am?" he asked, placing the straw in the pouch.

"Twelve," she answered and took a bite from her hot dog. "But seriously, how old are you?" she asked genuinely. He was nice enough to keep her company until the girls got home; she felt she should get to know him better instead of just sitting awkwardly.

"Twenty-Five," he answered. "You?"

"How dare you ask a girl about her age?" she asked, pretending to have taken offense. To which he rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll guess." He took a moment to look at her. "You're in your mid-twenties, too."

"Yeah, that's not an actual guess, smartass. Give me a number."

"Okay." He paused. "Twenty… _Four_?"

"Twenty-Five," she informed.

"Close enough." He shrugged. "You spent the whole day on your laptop, are you a writer?" he asked next.

"No, not a writer." She paused to swallow. "I actually make music. I'm a record producer." He didn't have to know that she quit almost two weeks ago and spent the whole day looking for jobs online.

"I'm a composer," he told her. "Well, I went to school to become a composer. It's all I ever wanted to be honestly. I've done internships here and there but they don't pay the bills so I haven't got to compose for a living yet." He scratched his head, feeling a little uncomfortable. The topic of work was quite embarrassing because usually his situation was the floor to many unfunny jokes.

"I quit my dream job recently," she blurted out. "And, I'm pretty sure I'm having an existential crisis."

He frowned eyeing her when she let out a humorless chuckle. "I haven't told anyone this." She cleared her throat. "I don't want to make music anymore." She tried to blame the working environment for pushing her to quit but she knew deep down that it was her that just didn't want to do it anymore.

"You sure it's not just a creative block you're having."

She shook her head. "I still have _it_. I just want to be my thing, you know?" He nodded despite not understanding what she meant. "I don't want to sit and listen to some rich tone-deaf idiot tell me how to make music."

"Then don't," he told her. "Work with people you believe in. Make music that you'd listen to. Doesn't have to be for money." He shrugged.

"Well, I kinda need money." She grimaced.

"Money will come." He set the empty juice pouch down. "I write pieces for myself because I love writing music. I want to do it for a living of course and I will." He paused for a moment, noting the frown that formed on her forehead. "What I'm trying to say is that I do it because I love it."

She nodded her head and said nothing back. They had different opinions and there was no need to get into it.

"What sort of music do you compose?" she asked, moving on.

"The none-lyrical kind," he answered, shifting in discomfort. They had been sitting on the floor for quite some time, his butt was sore.

"Do you like imagine situations and write a score that complete them? How does it work?" She was curious if his approach to music was different from hers. It had to be because she had the lyrics to use as tool.

"Sometimes, yeah," he affirmed. "Other times, it's just something I see or live."

"Like what?" She tilted her head to look at him.

"Like now. Just sitting on the floor with a girl who I only learned her name because her neighbor called her by her name in front of me." He nudged her.

"Sorry." She shook her head. "I hate when I do that."

"You unintentionally don't give your name a lot?" he was slightly confused.

"Yeah, I also forget to ask people their name. There are people that I worked with that I still don't know their names. It's weird to just ask them about their name after working with them for like a year."

"You're a weirdo, Beca," he concluded. "What's your full name? I'm gonna look up the songs you produced later."

"Oh, please, don't."

"C'mon, it can't be that bad."

"It _so_ is. Dude, I worked with zero integrity. I worked with people that even auto tune can't fix their voices. I had to add my own voice to tracks just so it wouldn't cause listeners' ears to bleed."

"Your own voice, huh?"

"Yeah," she sighed. She wasn't very proud of the music she made and that was part of why she didn't want to do it anymore. She kind of lost hope in the music industry as a whole. It was cynical to think that way and she knew it.

"Sing me a song you produced?" he requested. "I promise I won't look it up later."

"Okay," she inhaled deeply before she sang the hook to Bend Over (Stand Up).

"Wow. You have amazing vocals."

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, mistaking his genuine awe of her voice for sarcasm.

"No, I'm serious. If your voice were a person, I'd marry it."

"Okay, that's weird."

"Actually, it would make an interesting movie, a guy falling for a voice… wait, they already made that."

"You're so _weird_ ," she noted seeing how his legit excitement was replaced mock annoyance.

"Since you can sing very well, why don't you just produce music and sing it yourself?"

"I'm not a singer. I can sing but I'm not a singer. People in the industry in general are more than a talent which is why a shit ton of untalented morons make banks in music."

"What makes a successful entertainer?" She sounded very bitter and he wondered how much shit she had seen in the music industry to become so cynical.

"An interesting persona," she answered.

"Well, I can help you create an interesting persona," he offered and heard a small chuckle.

"Thanks but no thanks."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged. "But if you change your mind, you know where to find me." He paused. "Or you know what? I'll just give you my number."

She handed him her phone and he typed his cellphone number. She dialed his number the moment he handed it back to her so that he'd also have her number.

He liked her when they first interacted at the coffee place. Having spent some time with her, he liked her even more. She was pretty friendly and seemed to enjoy his company but she hadn't shown any sign that she was into him.

She could be seeing someone for all he knew. She didn't know he was single, she wouldn't show interest in him even if she liked him back if she didn't know he was single—that if she was into men altogether.

He was overthinking whether to ask her out or not and didn't really know why.

They both tilted their heads when they heard the elevator door open.

"Chloe, finally!" Beca said once her friend stepped out of the elevator.

Jesse pushed himself up then helped Beca get on her feet. "Hi, I'm Jesse," he went on to introduce himself.

"A new neighbor?" Chloe wondered.

"No, I work at the coffee place downstairs," he informed, extending his hand to shake Chloe's hand.

"Chloe," she smiled at him, introducing herself.

"Pleasure meeting you, Chloe," he went on to say, letting go of her hand.

"Likewise…What brings you _upstairs_ , Jesse?" she questioned, curious as she went to unlock the door.

"Chivalry," Beca answered for him and received an eye roll from her friend. "No, really, Jesse was nice enough to keep me company until you got here," she added. "He also got hot dogs and juice pouches. What's that if not chivalry?"

"It's nothing, really." He shrugged, bending to pick up the plastic bag in which they put the empty pouches and wrappers.

"Wow, your girlfriend is one lucky lady," Chloe noted.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he informed and didn't miss the look Chloe gave Beca. "I should get going." He turned to Beca. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Beca nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes when Chloe mouthed _'he's hot'_ as she entered the apartment, leaving Beca standing at the door with Jesse.

"Thanks for feeding me and for sticking around," she was saying as she drummed her fingers on the door.

"It's a pleasure." He started to make his way to the elevator then stopped, turning around to face her. "Hey, Beca," he called glad she hadn't stepped inside the apartment yet.

"Mhm?"

"Wanna grab a bite or something some time?" He thought about it, why wait when he really liked her. If she was seeing someone, she'd reject him now and he'll get over it.

She took too long before she nodded. "Text me."

He found himself grinning at the small smile that was playing on her lips.


	2. Chapter 2

Beca never thought the day would come where she'd get all hot and bothered watching a freaking _bassist_. Nope, not the vocalist in the tight jeans nor the guitarist whose arms were covered in tattoos.

The bassist wearing a maroon sweatshirt and whose fingers moved effortlessly from one string to another despite his claims of not having played base since college and just covering for a friend who broke his arm and couldn't preform.

The bassist who didn't seem to be bothered by the lack of air conditioning in the bar even though he was dripping in his own sweat… he should probably lose the sweatshirt for his own sake and hers because she wouldn't mind seeing more of his body. He had nice arms that she totally wouldn't mind being wrapped around her.

The set was mediocre at best but she wasn't there to critic the music being played. She was there on a date with the bassist.

They had been on quite a few dates in the couple of weeks they'd known each other and it was the most she went out with the same guy during such short period.

"Nice job up there," she said once he joined her.

Jesse grimaced in response. "I'm not sure I agree." He paused and she was going to tell him how wrong he was because he really did do a good job for someone who hadn't picked up a bass guitar in years. "I think I, at least, was pretty damn exquisite," he continued and she rolled her eyes.

"Exquisite, that's what you're going with?" He was such a dork.

"M'yeah." He shrugged. "I had your attention the whole time we were preforming and that's enough proof that I was indeed extremely fine up there that you, a recorder producer, barely acknowledged the lead singer and the rest of the band." He flashed her a smile before he turned to the bartender ordering a beer for himself.

"Fair enough." She was going to leave it there if he thought his _exquisite_ performance was the reason why she stared at him the whole set.

She brought the beer she was holding to her lips and took a sip.

"For real though what did you think of the set?" he found himself wondering, following Beca's eyes to find her watching the band that got on stage.

"It was alright. There's some lack of practice and the vocalist gotta stop trying to hit high notes, he doesn't have the voice for high notes," she told him, genuinely giving her critique.

"He refuses to believe that he sings off-key when he goes falsetto." He sighed.

"The crowd doesn't seem to mind," she pointed out.

"The crowd is pretty drunk," he countered. "The dude thinks he could make it professionally."

Beca laughed out loud at his words. "Sorry," she instantly apologized.

"It's okay," he assured her.

"No, no, that was insensitive. Besides, making it in the industry doesn't necessary require a voice. It's just funny to me how a lot of people think they got what it takes to become the next big thing."

He nodded and brought his drink to his lips, thinking of how to change the subject. He knew she didn't like talking about music but was polite enough to engage in the conversation. And, he was such a moron for bringing it up.

"Hey, Becs?" he called.

"Yeah?"

"Are you superstitious?" he asked and nearly face palmed himself for the question he picked. He could tell she was bit confused by it.

"Er-no… not really," she answered. "Why, are you?"

"Well, I wasn't. But, here's the thing. I think my apartment is haunted."

"Are you trying to make me never want to visit your place?" she accused playfully.

"No, I'm asking to see if you know any good exorcists that could maybe help out."

"Have your buddy sing some Christina Aguillera at your apartment, I'm sure the ghost or whatever it is haunting the place would get the hell out of there instantly," she deadpanned and earned a chuckle in return.

"That's an excellent idea."

"You're welcome." It was really hard to keep a smile from forming on her lips when he was grinning at her but she was determent to play it cool.

The thing with Beca Mitchell's that if she really, really, liked a guy she'd turn into a cold sarcastic version of herself. She knew it usually made her look bad but she really couldn't help it. She'd often get anxious about what she should say and do in order not to fuck up or seem too desperate and as a result she'd come off very icy and very sarcastic.

It was weird.

He seemed to be into her sarcastic jabs so that was great.

"I think I'm gonna just come here when I want to go to sauna, it is hot!" Jesse unzipped his sweatshirt and rolled up his sleeves. "It's hard to believe that we're in freaking October."

"It really is." She could feel her hair sticking to the back of her neck and she hadn't pulled any effort.

"I'm sorry I dragged you here," he then apologized when she began to fan herself with her hand.

She shrugged in response. "Beer is alright and the bands aren't half as bad." By alright she meant cheap and by aren't half as bad she actually meant she heard _way_ worse.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" he asked grimacing at the voice of the singer that took the stage.

"Yeah," she nodded and brought her beer to her lips, finishing it, while Jesse called the bartender to pay for their drinks.

He extended his hand and she took it as they began making their way out of the bar. Jesse tilted his head when she pulled him back as they walked and grinned when she threw an arm around his shoulder, walking backwards until they were in a dark corner.

She was such a great kisser. He could not get enough of her as she pulled him closer. He grinned when she pulled away panting. It was dark but he could see her and he thought she looked beautiful. He totally didn't expect her to pull him to a dark corner of the bar when they were heading out but he sure as hell didn't mind.

"Wow," he muttered, failing to come up with a better thing to say. Not enough oxygen was reaching his brain because he couldn't will himself to pull away.

Beca pulled the hand that was in his hair away and rested it on his chest.

He squeezed her hand that was still in his before he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Um, since your place is haunted, I think you should spend the night at my place tonight," she mumbled.

"Gladly," he mumbled back.

* * *

It had been a while since Beca Mitchell had fallen asleep snuggling up to another human being that was neither Chloe nor Fat Amy. So, when she woke up and found herself in a very comfortable position, she smiled to herself and decided to go back to sleep only getting out of bed when she needed to use the bathroom.

He was so warm and cozy: it was quite difficult to talk herself into climbing out of bed.

"Well, well, well, look who's up?" She heard Fat Amy say as she exited the bathroom.

"Morning," Beca said, making her way to the kitchenette where both Fat Amy and Chloe were.

"Coffee?" Chloe held up the coffee pot and Beca nodded.

"Thanks," she said accepting the mug of coffee Chloe offered her.

"Very funny," she deadpanned when Fat Amy placed a batch of pancakes that had, _'congrats on the sex'_ written on it in chocolate on the kitchen counter in front of her.

"It sure had been a while since you got laid, seemed necessary we congratulated you," Fat Amy explained.

"Is everything okay?" Chloe asked, after getting a good look at her friend who scoffed in response to Fat Amy. "Did he come too fast?" she questioned next, grimacing.

"Yeah, or does has a weirdly shaped penis?" Fat Amy went on to add.

"You two are ridiculous," Beca mumbled as she brought her mug to her lips.

"No, we're not. You really like this guy and if he has a weird dick or ejaculates prematurely it's a serious problem. We don't want that kind of disappointment for you," Chloe told her. "You deserve a guy with a functioning dick."

"Amen," Fat Amy agreed.

Beca rolled her eyes. "If you must know, nothing happened."

"Nothing?" Fat Amy didn't hide her surprise.

"We made out." Beca shrugged. "Then sort of just talked until we fell asleep."

"That's adorable," Chloe smiled.

"Ew, no," Fat Amy said in disgust. "You get your ass back in there and you get yourself some!"

"Amy," Beca sighed when Fat Amy took the pancakes away from her.

"Get laid first then you may have these." The blonde shrugged. "How are you going to take him to meet your family if you don't take him at least on a test drive, if you catch my _drift_." Fat Amy winked.

"What Amy means to say is that sex is an important part of any relationship be it serious or casual. You will learn more about each other and become more comfortable around each other once you've gotten _that_ intimate with each other."

Beca was about to speak when she saw that both of her friends were looking behind her. "Shit," she muttered before she tilted her head to see a confused Jesse standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

"How much did you hear?" Beca asked. No point in beating around the bush.

"Enough," he replied.

"Neat," Beca deadpanned and shot Chloe and Amy a death glare each.

"You want me to meet your family?" he questioned in puzzlement, kindly not pointing out the rest of what he overheard.

"It's not like that," Beca began to say.

"It's exactly like that," Fat Amy told him and received a nudge from Chloe. "What? I'm not afraid of _her_. What's the worst she could do, smother me with a pillow in my sleep?"

"I might," Beca replied.

"Beca you struggle to open jars. So, I wouldn't hold my _breath_ ," Fat Amy said to which Chloe snorted.

"Well, if it's important I meet your family, just tell me when and I'll do it," Jesse said still puzzled.

"Aw, Beca, he's such a sweetheart," Chloe gushed.

"I'm not gonna make you do that, Jesse," Beca told him, deciding to ignore Chloe. "These two came up with a horrible idea to deal with the outcome of bad call I made," she vaguely said.

"Like six months ago Beca lied to her mother and told her she's in a relationship just to get her off her back and now her mother wants to meet "the boyfriend"," Fat Amy explained. "You two are dating so we thought why not just take you."

Jesse nodded slowly, soaking in the information and piecing it with what he had overheard. "It's not that bad of an idea."

"Seriously?" Beca did nothing to hide her surprise.

"I've heard worse." He shrugged.

"It could make a cute story to tell your rat rugs one day," Fat Amy tried to argue.

"Totes," Chloe agreed.

"You guys are weird," Beca noted. "All of you." Jesse seemed to agree with them because he was nodding.

"So are you," Jesse was quick to say. "Honestly, it's not a big deal. I'm adorable. Your mom will love me." He really was adorable but Beca made sure to keep her expression hard, cracking a smile at his dorky grin wasn't an option.

"We're done talking about this. It's a terrible idea and isn't going to happen," she firmly said.

"Yes, sir," Fat Amy said while she mockingly saluted her friend.

"Yep," Chloe nodded her head when Beca met her gaze.

"Good." Beca curtly nodded. "Would you like some coffee, nerd?" she then asked, remembering her manners at last. "We have cereal, too, I think."

"Uh, yeah," Jesse said in response as his eyes fell on the pancakes. "I'll have cereal," he finally said, looking up.

"Don't eat these unless you—" Fat Amy began to say when Jesse met her gaze while she gestured at the pancakes.

"—got it," Beca interrupted, not wanting to hear Fat Amy bring up sex. It was weird enough already, no need to take up a notch.

"I'll know if you didn't," Fat Amy said before she exited the kitchen, heading towards her bedroom.

"It always nice seeing you, Jesse," Chloe smiled sweetly at him.

"You, too," he smiled back and watched her leave the kitchen as well. She looked like she had just gotten home from a run so his guess that she was headed to take a shower.

"I'm sorry about Chloe and Amy." He heard Beca say breaking the silence they got in. "They mean well but they can be a handful sometimes."

"They're pretty cool and care an awful lot about you." He really overheard too much of their conversation.

"Yep." She brought her mug of coffee to her lips, sighing when she noticed that he was eyeing the pancakes.

"Eat 'em if you want," she told him.

"I'm afraid I'm not worthy of this batch," he said in response.

"Suit yourself, weirdo," she said, snorting.

* * *

"We have _She's All About That_ and _Leap Year_ ," Beca sighed eyeing the DVD cases of the only two movies she could find that she was a 100% sure belong to Chloe. "Which one do you wanna watch?" She looked up and frowned noting that Jesse had already zoned out.

"Jesse," she called.

"Huh?" He looked up.

"Which one do you wanna watch?" She held the cases in a way he could see the labels.

"Uh." He paused. "Leap Year," he told her.

"Leap Year it is."

She put the movie in the DVD player and joined him on the couch while reading the synopsis of the movie. "Ugh, sounds like a cliché-fest," she grumbled, tossing the case on the coffee table.

Hearing a loud sigh, she tilted her head and frowned. Jesse had a look on his face that during the month she knew him had never seen before.

Something was up with him.

He hadn't been acting like himself, he wasn't annoyingly chipper and _extra_ nice to every single costumer and that was quite strange. She was mostly busy on her laptop while at the coffee place yet she noticed it.

When she asked him, he just told her he was tired.

" _Come over later? We could watch some movie if you want,"_ she had said in response. _"Chloe made cookies and I'll make hot chocolate."_

" _That sounds nice,"_ he had a smile on his face when he accepted her invitation.

"Jesse," she called.

"Yeah?" he tilted his head to look at her.

"You're totally not just tired," she noted. "Wanna talk?"

"I blew a job interview," he shared with her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, watching him rest his elbows on his thighs and hold his head in his hands.

"It's okay," he said, his voice muffled. "I've had bad interviews before." He shrugged. "I just thought that I had this one, you know?" He looked up.

She nodded and proceeded to rub his back. "Jesse, sooner or later, you will get your break. These morons don't know what they're passing out on. They suck at their job so it's probably for the best that you won't be working with a bunch of idiots that can't even see real talent when it's right in front of them."

She heard some of his stuff and his talent was raw and radiating. She truly believed that he just needed one shot: _one shot_ was all he needed to blow up.

He sat up a small smile playing on his lips. "Thanks, Becs."

She cupped his cheek and kissed him in response. He kissed her back and it wasn't long until they were making out on the couch, the movie they picked to watch completely forgotten.

Jesse abruptly pulled away, frowning when he met her gaze. "Am I doing something wrong?" he asked. Whenever he tried to move things forward, she'd become very _cold._ He didn't think much of it at first and figured she simply didn't want to hook up but it had happened every single time they made out.

"One minute you're so into me then the next you're stiff and uncomfortable: it's confusing." His voice carried nothing but worry. "If it's me, tell me, Becs."

"No," she answered, looking away from his eyes in discomfort. "It's not you."

"Then what is it?" he puzzled, tucking the hair that fell on her face behind her ear.

"It's a lot of things," she murmured, confusing him even more.

He sat up and watched her run her fingers through her hair.

"I have a horrible taste in men," she began to say. "I usually go for the worst. I never dated a good guy like you before, Jesse."

He still didn't quite get why that would result in avoiding intimacy.

"I'm not that good, Becs," he finally said. "I mean I'm flattered but trust me, I have my share of flaws."

"We all do," she murmured. "But I doubt you're a misogynistic emotionally manipulative asshole… that's my type by the way. And because that's my type I end up getting hurt over and over again. I don't want to get hurt again—" she uneasily shared with him.

"—I won't hurt you, Beca," he was quick to ingest.

"I want to believe you, I really do," she said. "Fuck," she swore, getting up. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. I just thought I could do _this_." She shook her head. "I can't. You should leave."

He was up on his feet as well and reaching for her hand. "I don't think this is a waste of time." he told her as he took her hand in his.

"You should," she mumbled, looking up.

"You said you only go for assholes," he pointed out. "And while I'm not perfect I can assure you that I'm not an asshole—an assman, yeah, sure, why not? Although, I'm more of a boobman, but that's unrelated— Point is that you like me and that's a good sign, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess," she found herself agreeing with his reasoning.

"Let's not think ahead of ourselves and take this one day at a time," he continued. "And although I'd love to do dirty things to you, I'm down for taking it super slow in that area. So, let's just enjoy each other's company and see where it goes." He smiled at her as she thought about it.

"I'd like that," she finally said reluctantly nodding her head.

He wasn't going to let her down, but he knew telling her wouldn't make a difference: he had to show her.

He ended up spending the night over. They finished the movie, which turned out to be horrible and not the fun kind of horrible. They had fun trashing it, though. They made dinner together; mac and cheese, nothing fancy. She later showed him some of the mixes she was going to show at her job interview for a DJ position at a nightclub. (he loved every single one of them.) It got pretty late so she asked him to just sleep over and he was too tired to decline.


	3. Chapter 3

Jesse woke up to the sound of the alarm he had set his cellphone. He was quick to turn it off to avoid waking Beca but it was too late.

"Hey," he said in a low voice as she stretched waking up.

"Morning," she yawned. "You leaving?" she wondered.

He was in the process of wearing his jeans that he took off before going to bed so it made sense to Jesse that she'd assume that he was leaving. "No, I just need to use the bathroom. You have roommates. I don't wanna make anyone uncomfortable by walking in my underwear," he explained.

"Why is that funny to you?" he went on to ask when she chuckled.

"Spend time more often 'round here and you'll see for yourself," she cryptically answered. "What time is it?" she asked.

"Seven-thirty," he answered.

"Nope, too early to start the day," she decided before burying her face under the duvet.

"When do you usually start your day?" he wondered.

"After quitting, around noon," she told him.

"And while working at the label?"

"I'd set the alarm for quarter to eight and hit snooze until I'm late for work," she mumbled then smiled a little hearing him chuckle lightly.

* * *

He didn't expect to find her in the kitchenette when he got out of the bathroom.

"Do I smell grilled cheese?" he asked.

"Yup," she answered, taking a sip of coffee.

He grabbed a mug and poured himself some coffee before stepping behind her and eyeing what she was making.

"Sorry," she apologized when she bumped into him unaware that he was standing so close to her. "Shit," she added, seeing that she caused him to spill coffee on himself.

"It's okay," he mumbled, looking down at his t-shirt. "It's just coffee."

"Take it off, I'll wash the spot then blow dry it," she figured as she put the plateful of grilled cheese on the counter. "It'll be good as new."

"I'll wash it," he said and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"Hey, yo, no boning where we eat," a voice behind them said causing Beca to roll her eyes. "You insist on upholding these rules, Beca." Fat Amy continued, spotting her roommate's reaction.

"Rule number uno of five: Unless you have the apartment to yourself you gotta keep it in the bedroom," Fat Amy reminded Beca as if she had forgotten.

"I only took my t-shirt off to wash it 'cause I have to go to work in like an hour and it has coffee stain on it," Jesse explained.

"Oh, well, in that case, my apologies," Fat Amy said with a shrug. "Proceed," she said, gesturing at the bathroom.

"Cute bum," she complimented when he began making his way to the bathroom.

He awkwardly smiled at her not sure how to respond.

"Are you done checking him out?" Beca asked in boredom.

"Yeah," Fat Amy nodded, tilting her head to look at her friend once Jesse entered the bathroom. "Oh, grilled cheese!" She walked over and grabbed some from the plate.

Beca frowned hearing the doorbell and wondered who it might be.

"Probably Chloe back from her morning run," Fat Amy figured as she made her way to the door and buzzing whoever rang the bell in without even talking to them.

"Not bad, huh?" Jesse held his t-shirt Beca's way when he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Blow dryer is on the dresser," she informed.

He nodded and headed to her bedroom while in the meantime Fat Amy went to get the door.

The smell of designer perfume hit Beca as soon as their guest entered their tiny apartment.

"Amy, honey, how are you doing?"

"Spectacularly well as usual," Amy answered.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Beca asked.

"It's great to see you too, Beca," the mother said, sighing. "Oh, how I've missed my baby," she continued as she squashed Beca in a hug.

"I've missed you, too, mom," Beca mumbled, hugging her back. "But seriously what are you doing in New York?"

"Richard has some work in the city and I haven't seen you in ages I decided to come along and catch you before you go to work." Yeah, she didn't mention quitting her job to her mother yet. "Surprise!" she grinned, breaking the hug.

Beca was sure the smile she had look more like a grimace.

"That grilled cheese smells so good, Becs, can't wait to have some of it," Jesse was saying as he stepped out of the bedroom while he was in the process of putting on his t-shirt.

"Um, hi." Jesse smoothed down his t-shirt.

"Hi," the older woman said letting go of her daughter. "You must be Beca's boyfriend. I'm Louise, her mother." She extended her hand towards him.

"Jesse Swanson. Nice meeting you."

"You, too. You _really_ exist, huh. Beca would never tell me anything about you, I wasn't sure you existed," she was saying as she shook his hand. "I'm sorry, honey," she apologized tilting her head to look at her daughter.

Beca had a blank look on her face. He couldn't read her expression for the life of him so he just smiled back at the woman and kept his mouth shut.

"Yeah, Beca wouldn't let us meet him until recently," Fat Amy said as she walked back the kitchenette. "I understand that you're very private and like to keep it low key but it's quite strange, my friend," she continued, grabbing grilled cheese for herself and for Jesse.

"Thanks," Jesse said accepting the grilled cheese from Fat Amy.

He knew all about the lie Beca had told her mother and the reasons behind the lie when he overheard them talking the morning after the first time that he spent the night at Beca's

"I'm going to be here for a couple of days, what do you say we meet up for dinner or something?" Louise was saying as she looked at Jesse then at her daughter. "Richard wants to meet him, too," she continued meeting Beca's gaze.

Beca had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the serious tone of her mother once she mentioned Richard. Beca didn't dislike Richard per se but he could chill. She had a father and didn't need a second one. He meant well but he could back off.

"This evening Richard has a work dinner so tomorrow? Does eight pm work for you two?" she went on to ask.

"I have a thing," Jesse began to say, sharing a look with Beca that spoke louder than words. "My friend is getting married we're throwing him a bachelor party." While that wasn't a lie in itself it wasn't the complete truth either. The friend was from his hometown and had invited him since he's in New York where the bachelor was taking place as well as the wedding. However, it was in a week. He didn't mind meeting up with Beca's family but he could tell from her face that she didn't want to do it.

"Oh, well, that's a shame," she said in response.

"You can do something else. Doesn't have to be dinner," Fat Amy suggested and received a death glare from Beca. "Or Jesse here can have dinner with you then go meet up with his friend."

"Rushed plans don't always pan out," Louise said. And, Beca sighed in relief. "How about you two flight over for Christmas?" She looked hopeful. It was so obvious to Jesse that Louise just wanted to hang out with her daughter and _him_ since he was a part of her daughter's life.

"There's enough time to clear up your schedules and come. It'll be great."

"Yeah, and Jesse here is Jewish so he's most likely free that time of the year," Fat Amy chimed in.

Beca wanted to throw something at Fat Amy but couldn't do that when her mother's gaze was on her.

"We'll see," Beca finally said realizing that all eyes were on her, waiting for her to say something.

"Fine, I won't insist but I hope you do come." She rubbed Beca's arm. "And bring him along." She pointed at Jesse. "I should let you go get ready for work," she sighed, looking at the time on her watch. "We'll talk later." She pulled Beca in another hug, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Beca nodded, "Yeah." An inevitable interrogation was up over Jesse and she dreaded it.

"Your mom is interesting," Jesse said once Louise left the apartment. He stepped aside and watched Beca walk straight to her bed. She groaned dropping face first on the bed.

"Beca, just talk to her. I'm sure she'll understand. I mean she wasn't buying the lie in the first place." He leaned against the doorway, bringing the grilled cheese, which was amazing, to his mouth.

"She's your mother and she loves you, you'll survive the fallout when the truth comes out." He didn't think it was a big deal. She lied about her love life because she felt pressured: talking it through would work: he didn't get why Beca was acting the way she was acting.

"She won't do it. Beca is more of a "let-it-blow-up-in-my-face" kind of person. It's very messed up," Fat Amy casually said as she stopped momentarily in front of Beca's room.

"I'm gonna smother you," Beca threatened, looking up. "And, stop eating my grilled cheese. I made it for myself and Jesse!" she called as her roommate walked away.

Jesse watched her bury her face in her pillow then made his way to where she laid. "Don't you think you're overacting a little," he said as he sat down. "I mean I don't really know your mother or your relationship with her," he added. "So, yeah, I could be wrong."

He heard her exhale before she sat up. "There was someone. It's not a complete lie," she grumbled.

"Okay," he slowly said, waiting for more.

"The girls don't know about him." She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Shocker," he murmured and received a pointed look.

"I know I should just tell her but I need you to understand that it's not that easy." She sighed and felt him reach for her hand and take it in his.

Although he couldn't fathom why it was so hard for her to tell her mother the truth Jesse knew better than to persist on changing her mind.

"Got it," he smiled, squeezed her hand in his. He then pulled her into his embrace in a hug, burying his face in her neck.

"Dude," she let out an involuntary laugh when he began to place several pecks on a spot that he knew was ticklish. "Stop." She tried to push him away but it only made him hold her more firmly as they fell back on the bed.

* * *

The staff at the café he worked at had a hand full of artists and the degree of optimism within the staff of ever _making it_ varied. Jesse for example was quite the optimist most days but he had his share of low days, too. And because the staff had so much talent, he often got free tickets to show. He tried to attend and support them by taking pictures and sharing them on social media for his network of friends to see. He just got to take Beca with him now as his plus one and not go solo.

They both didn't make much money and couldn't afford to go on fancy dates so they often got stuck doing the same stuff since it was getting colder and cheap outdoor activities such as picnics and visiting the zoo weren't much of an option.

"You like it?" he asked, coming to a stop next to Beca and handing her a glass of champagne.

"Yeah, it's nice," she mumbled, accepting the drink from him, her eyes never leaving the painting she had been looking at.

He brought his own glass of champagne to his lips while eyeing the said painting and trying to see for himself what she liked in it.

He couldn't see it but that's probably because he wasn't as fond of modern art as Beca seemed to be—he wasn't even aware she was a fan of modern art until this very moment.

"Becky, is that you?" the voice of an English man said.

Jesse titled his head around the same time Beca did in the direction of the male voice that addressed her.

"It is you," the man smiled, approaching them.

"Luke, hey," Beca greeted in a tone that told Jesse that she did not like Luke—even her posture changed.

"Wow, you look _great_ ," he said and somehow managed to make the word great sound dirty. Luke then proceeded to check her out in a not very subtle way that made Beca uncomfortable and Jesse aware of her discomfort.

"Hi, I'm Jesse," Jesse introduced himself, extending his hand towards Luke while flashing him a tight smile.

"Luke," the man said, shaking hands with Jesse while eyeing him. "Boyfriend?" he guessed.

"Yeah," Beca answered before Jesse could say anything.

Jesse didn't miss the surprise her answer brought on Luke's face.

He hated to ask but he was curious, "how do you know each other?"

"Becky and I grew up together," Luke replied then tilted his head, hearing someone call his name. "I'd love to stay and catch up," he mumbled, eyeing Beca in a way that made Jesse want to rip him a new one. "But I got to run."

"Boyfriend?" Jesse arched an eyebrow.

Don't get him wrong, he'd love to label things with Beca but she wasn't ready to make it official yet and he was okay with it.

She drowned the glass of champagne. "I need more of this," she shook the empty glass.

He handed her his glass and took the empty one. "It's him isn't it?" he soon realized.

Jesse knew that she usually went for manipulative assholes who repeatedly broke her heart and from her reaction, he could guess that Luke was the most recent one.

"Huh. What a small world," Jesse mumbled when Beca nodded. "You alright, Becs?" he quietly said, rubbing her arm.

She sucked in a breath. "I'm good."

He shot her a pointed look in disbelief.

"I'll be fine."

He nodded and placed a small peck on her forehead, because anything beyond that was disgusting PDA wise according to Beca.

"Let's get out of here," he suggested.

* * *

It was cold and the liquor they had consumed was enough to help them warm up.

His apartment was within a walking distance from the art gallery, fifteen minutes to be precise, so they didn't freeze to death.

Beca was quiet the entire walk and Jesse figured he'd wait for her to start talking.

"Thanks," Beca mumbled when Jesse took her coat from her to hang it once they made it to his place.

"You hungry?" he wondered. "Benji spent the day trying to come up with his own lasagna recipes he made a ton in the process. Most of it is pretty tasty, especially if you're starving or high… or both." He grinned at her, picking up a bong. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Sure. I'll have lasagna." Beca shrugged, crossing her arms.

"Well, make yourself at home," he told her, walking backwards towards the kitchenette.

He put enough lasagna in the microwave to heat it up for dinner and meanwhile Beca looked through the vinyl records in the bookcase.

"Find something you like?" he wondered, sitting next to her on the rug.

"Yeah…" she absentmindedly said while reading the track list of the record she was holding. "You own an awful lot of movie soundtracks," she noted, placing the record back.

"This is one is one of my favorites," he told her when she pulled The Breakfast Club's soundtrack. "I try not to play it a lot." He brushed the dust off the cover with his fingers. "I played it a total of ten times ever since I got it."

"And for how long have you had this?" she wondered.

"Ten years. My grandpa gave to me on my birthday because at the time breakfast club was my favorite movie ever. I made everyone watch it, grandpa included."

"That's sweet of him."

"Yeah, that's grandpa," Jesse smiled at the memory of my grandfather.

"You were pretty close, huh?" she figured to which he nodded. "Which one of these do you like best?" she ran her thumb down the track list, fully expecting him to have a hard time picking his favorite but he surprisingly answered her right away.

"Don't you. I fucking love that song." He got up, hearing the microwave beep.

When he left to get dinner ready, he could hear Don't You playing and could tell that it was coming from the stereo and not the turntable.

* * *

"What are you looking for, Jesse?" Beca puzzled, sitting down to eat, while Jesse looked through different drawers.

"Candles," he answered. "Found 'em!" he exclaimed seconds later.

"Seriously?" she was having a hard time keeping her expression neutral while he lit up a bunch of candles before dragging a stool around the kitchen counter in order to face her.

"Wait let me turn off the lights," he mumbled as soon as he sat down and got up.

"There." He reached for her right hand and took it in his. "A nice candle lit dinner," he was saying as Beca cautiously placed a napkin away from the candles before tilting her head to look at Jesse.

"You hate this," Jesse nervously chuckled. He didn't blame her. Her mind was preoccupied by whatever it was that meeting Luke brought. His _cute romantic_ gesture was the last thing she probably cared to indulge.

"Oh, no." She squeezed his hand. "Not at all. I mean with this many candles I'm pretty sure the whole building can go down in flames but I like the _initiative._ "

"I hope you like Benji's lasagna, too." He picked up his fork and dived in.

"Aren't you gonna ask about Luke?" Beca quietly wondered as they dined.

He refilled both their glasses of wine before he spoke, "No, not unless you're okay talking about him." He momentarily paused. "Do I want to know all about him? Yes. But my curiosity isn't enough of a reason for you talk about him." If they were in relationship "officially"—they were kind of a couple already but they had yet to make it official—he _might_ feel like he deserved to know as her boyfriend but he wasn't so it was up to her.

"We were on again off again for a while and it was pretty toxic to say the least," she let him know.

"I'm sorry," he said when she went quiet, clearly getting lost in her thoughts.

"It's fine." She shrugged. "It ended and that's what matters." She smiled at him and he found himself smiling back at her.

"He said you grew up together?"

"Not really." She took a sip of wine. "He's Richard's son from his first marriage who lived with his mother in the UK until he got shipped to the States 'cause he was _'a troubled teen'_ and his mother couldn't handle his bullshit on her own anymore," she informed. "At that point, Rich and mom weren't married yet but I did see him when they force us to hangout. By the time our parents got married, he was in freshman in college and I was sophomore in high school. Doesn't really count as growing up together but he likes to think that it does." She shrugged, playing with what was left of the lasagna on her plate.

"You don't want to spend Christmas with your mother because you don't want to be around him," he figured.

"I know I shouldn't let his presence bother me so much but it's does," she chuckled humorlessly.

He saw for himself how much it bothered her to meet Luke and it was for less than a minute altogether. He could only imagine how it would be like over Christmas.

"You can't _just_ avoid him, Beca."

"I know. It's just easier this way."

"It's also very unhealthy to carry around all this baggage," he stated the obvious. "Maybe Christmas would be a good time to sort things out."

"Are you really suggesting I work it out with him over Christmas?" she asked.

"I'm not saying you should forgive and forget. It's just that your current coping mechanism isn't the most efficient, Becs."

She nodded slowly at his words before she blew a breath. "This is what you had in mind for conversation topics when you decided to light up those candles right?" she then deadpanned to which he chuckled understanding that she no longer wanted to talk about Luke.

"I thought it would be a great idea to light some candles, you know, to set the mood for a serious conversation and lasagna so I went for it." He shrugged, leaning forward after he placed both his forearms on the counter. "I'm full of equally great ideas, just so you know."

"Sure." She smiled at him.


	4. Chapter 4

"How many records do you have in total?" Beca asked as she continued to look through Jesse's collection of vinyl records after dinner.

"I'm not sure," he answered, standing behind her and looking at his collection of Vinyl.

Beca hummed thoughtfully, "Why Vinyl, though?" she was saying as she googled the album she had in her hand to play it on Spotify.

He told her to feel free to play the records on the turntable but she opted for the easier way to listen to tracks: connect her cellphone to his wireless sound system and look the music up on the internet.

"Grandpa gave me his turntable before he passed away as well as his collection. Every time I play a new vinyl record, it feels like I'm playing it for grandpa and that he's listening to it." He took a sip of wine, emptying the glass then placing it on the coffee table behind them. "It sounds stupid, I know," he added when he felt her gaze on him.

"No, it doesn't." She frowned meeting his gaze. "It's sweet."

He shot her a lopsided smile in response, "When did you get this?" he gestured at her earspike when she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"When I turned sixteen." She placed The Lightning Seeds' Jollification record back in the bookcase as Lucky You began playing.

"Did it hurt?" He stepped closer to her.

"Yup!"

He leaned over and placed a kiss behind her ear. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I got over it."

"Of course, you did." He kissed her on her cheek next. "You're so tough it's both arousing and scary."

"Why is it scary?" she wondered in amusement, noting his slightly slurred speech.

He shrugged, wrapping an arm around her waist as he stood behind her and swayed his hips dancing to the song. "Because you'd probably sucker punch me if I ever cross you."

She laughed and it made Jesse feel all tingly inside.

Beca had such a nice laugh. Also, really nice boobs that he found himself looking at.

"Do I really look like the violent type?" she tilted her head to look at him.

"Yeah." He looked up to meet her gaze. "I wouldn't be surprised if you've spent a few nights in jail. Meanwhile, my square ass never even got a speeding ticket."

"You should probably stay away from me or I might corrupt you, nerd."

"Please, do corrupt me." He rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Nah. I like you square." She had to hold a smile back when he gave puppy dog eyes.

He sighed and swiftly turned her around so they were facing each other. She rolled her eyes when he started singing along to the song currently playing as he reached for her hand taking it in his and pulled her closer to him.

"You're such a dork," she shook her head, refusing to dance along.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her.

Jesse never tried to take things further whenever they made out: he always took in consideration Beca's intimacy issues and let her take control of the pace to avoid making her uncomfortable: yet when she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer he found himself picking her up and pinning her against the wall.

As usual, however, he felt it when she wasn't that into what they were doing anymore and made the rational decision to stop.

He proceeded to place a peck on her forehead before he put her down.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly.

"It's okay," he said into her hair. "Don't be." He rubbed her back, feeling her tighten her hold.

"I just don't get it," she grumbled, pulling away. "I really like you. I'm very attracted to you. It's just…" she groaned.

"Just give it time," he mumbled, unsure what to say.

"No," she shook her head.

"No?" He frowned.

"No, we're doing this, dude."

"I'm not sure that would be a good idea." He got a hold of her shoulders. "You can't force it. You have to sort things out up here first." He gently tapped her head. "I'm not a therapist but I think you can't just open up to me quite yet and it's keeping you from jump on this." He gestured at himself.

She let out a heavy breath.

"It's okay," he repeated.

"No, it's not. It sucks. And you have to go through it, too."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." He pulled her gently into his embrace. "Give yourself time. We'll figure it out." He might not quite get what she's dealing with but he sure as hell was going to try to be as supportive and understanding as possible.

"Why put up with my shit, thought?" she mumbled into his shirt. "You really don't have to."

"Because I really like you, weirdo!" He placed a peck on her head and held her closer, feeling her pull away. "We'll figure it out, Becs," he assured her.

"So, why did you introduce me as your boyfriend to Luke?" he asked moments later.

"Mom will bring you up in front of him for sure over Christmas."

"She doesn't know you two dated, right?"

"No one does. And I wouldn't call it dating." She pulled away from him and ran her fingers through her hair. "We didn't like go on dates or anything like that. We mainly just hooked up and argued… a lot." She sat down on the couch. "It was bad. And thinking about it makes me nauseous and mad."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I let it happen." She shrugged. "It's kinda my fault."

"Don't say that." He sat down next to her. "You made bad decisions but who hasn't?" He paused, racking his brain for an example from his own experiences. "Back in high school, I fell for a friend of mine who I knew was a lesbian. I knew damn well that she'd never want to be with me but that didn't stop me from falling super hard for her. I confessed my love for her and got rejected of course." He sighed. "I had a tiny hope that she was bi and just didn't really acknowledge it because the vast majority of the boys at our school were, for lack of a better word, gross."

"But not you, though. You're just an idiot." She leaned against him.

He agreed, nodding his head. "But I grew from that and I think that's what matters. You messed up. Learn from your mistake and grow as a person. I haven't fallen for a lesbian since high school… except for Jodie Foster." He smiled when she chuckled at his words.

Hearing her phone chime, Beca grabbed it from the coffee table and unlocked it to read the text she received.

Jesse threw his arm around her and pulled her closer, placing a peck on her head.

'It was great running into you ;)' the text read.

Despite the fact that the number was unknown, Jesse knew who sent it.

Beca eyed the screen for several seconds before she tossed her phone aside.

Jesse was never the pushy type but he really wanted her to sort things out and move on which made keeping his mouth shut pretty hard. He already told her what he thought she should do and it was up to her.

"Hang out. He wants to hang out!" Beca exclaimed, pacing back and forth in the room.

Jesse who was half-asleep and mildly hungover stifled a yawn, trying to keep his eyes open.

"I mean the nerve with this asshole," she added, shaking her head. "You know what the last thing he said to me when I ended things?" She stopped walking once she was right in front of Jesse who was still in bed. "He laughed and said, 'Yeah, right'." She let out a humorless chuckle. "He didn't think I was capable of ending things. But I did it. And now he's texting me telling me we should hang out and catch up?"

Jesse climbed out of bed and threw an arm around her because there was no way he was going back to sleep, "He's a dick."

"He really is," she agreed.

"You know what I think this is about?" he began to say, rubbing her arm and hoping it would help calm her down. "I think Luke is jealous." He placed a small peck on her head. "He thought you'd go back to him but you didn't. And then he saw you and got jealous because you didn't just end it with him but you also moved on." Noting how thoughtful she got, he added, "You're really beautiful, Becs. And last night in that little dress of yours." He paused. "Pretty sure even gay dudes wanted you."

She rolled her eyes in response.

"It's true," he insisted. "Just ignore him." He reached and took her phone from her hand. "He's not worth this sort of reaction from you."

She was really mad when she first read the texts that Luke sent her in the middle of the night and that she only read in the morning when she woke up. She woke Jesse up just to tell him how mad she was.

"Dude, if what you're saying is true about the whole jealousy thing then ignoring him won't work. I know him, he'll think I'm playing hard to get."

"Well, then what will you do about him?"

She blew a breath before saying, "End it once and for all."

"I will help you hide the body but that's a little extreme," he mumbled to which she rolled her eyes again. "I'm just saying restraining orders work just fine."

"You're hilarious."

"Thanks," he smiled.

"He won't leave me alone until he's convinced that I want nothing to do with him," she grumbled. "I don't want to be around him but I think making sure he sees that I won't get back with him over Christmas would be the only case scenario I can work with." He knew it was going to be really hard for her and planned to be there for her fully.

"I'll book us flights ASAP before you change your mind." He paused. "Where does your mom live?"

"Seattle," Beca answered, blowing a breath. "I'm really doing this!"

"Yeah." He nodded, holding her shoulders. "You're doing this," he echoed.

Beca didn't change her mind. Jesse was almost sure she was going to change her mind but she didn't. Jesse frowned looking outside of the taxi's window when it pulled over in front of a villa.

He knew her mother and stepfather were comfortable but from the looks of the exterior of the Spanish styled villa, they seemed to be pretty rich.

"Beca, honey," the mother greeted as soon as she unlocked the door. She enveloped Beca in a hug. "I'm so glad you made it," she was saying as she pulled away.

"Me, too," Beca mumbled, smiling at her mother.

"It's nice seeing you again, Jesse," Louise then said to Jesse.

"Thank you for having me," he smiled broadly at the woman who really seemed over the moon.

"Well, come on in, you two." She stepped back and gestured for them to follow her.

Yeah, they were rich. And, Beca forgot to give him the memo. "What do your mom and stepdad do for a living?" Jesse asked as Beca closed the door behind them once they got to the guest room they were staying in. The room was more of a suite.

"He's a surgeon who also dabbles in real estate investments."

"Yeah, clearly!" He gestured around him. "I feel like I'm in a luxurious presidential suite."

"That's what mom was going for while decorating the place," she told him. "Mom's a real estate broker," she informed. "She met Richard through work."

"Like we did," he smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Not really," she disagreed.

"Oh, but yes," he insisted. "You wanted coffee and I got you coffee. I didn't make the coffee nor was it mine but I not only did I get paid for my service but you also tipped handsomely (a bit irresponsibly for someone between jobs but I'm not complaining). Your stepdad wanted a new place. Your mother got him the house and probably got a nice commission out of the sale she made. So, yeah, samesies."

"I tipped you because I saw how polite you were with everyone, not just me because you liked me. I mean it must be exhausting to pull that off but you do so you deserve all the tips in the world."

"Oh, so you knew I liked you from the get-go?"

"I knew I liked you." She shrugged, playing with the zipper of his sweatshirt. "If you were bar-tending instead, I would have totally had enough liquor courage to invite you back to my place," she mumbled, meeting his gaze.

"I would have gladly and maybe a bit too eagerly obliged," he said in response. "And crept you out as a result."

She shook her head before she leaned up to kiss him. "Where do you wanna go first, the Seattle Aquarium or the Space Needle?" she asked, pulling away.

'Bed,' he thought to himself. He wanted to go straight to bed where he'd spend a few hours worshiping her body because she's insanely hot and the way she was looking at him all sexy while messing with his sweatshirt's zipper was driving him a little crazy.

She made him feel like a hormonal teenager and he wondered how long it was going to take before he embarrassed himself in front of her. Jesse meant what he said when he told her he was okay taking it super slow. He was interested in her as a person. He was very much attracted her and wanted her but he would never push her or try to coax her into doing something she wasn't comfortable doing. So, yeah, he was very okay with waiting for as long as she wanted. He very much respected her boundaries and had no intention of ever going beyond what she was okay with. It just wasn't easy to ignore the way his body reacted to her and it was becoming ridiculous. He truly felt like a teenager again.

"Either is fine," he answered, distancing himself from her and busying himself by picking up his suitcase and putting it on the bed. "I just need to take a quick shower to freshen up before we head out." He was pretty tired from their cross-country flight but wasn't going to let his fatigue stand in his way. It was his first time in Seattle and he wanted to make the most of their trip.

"Oh, we don't have to go out right now, Jess. We can go out tomorrow." She shrugged. "We could just stay in. Relax in the jacuzzi for a while then take a nap until dinner is ready. It's the holidays we don't have to adult."

"Did you just say jacuzzi?" he asked in surprise.

"Why do you think I chose this room?" she countered with a questioned. "So, wanna get in the thing?" she wondered when he kept looking at her.

"Eh, yeah." He nodded, swallowing hard as he looked through his clothes.

"I'll go get us some champagne 'cause this is a valid excuse for some casual day-drinking," she figured.

"Yeah," he chuckled and watched her make her way to the door.

Beca needed some alcohol in her system to calm her nerves a little. She was jittery and hated the reason behind her anxiety. She wasn't ready to be around Luke but had to sack up and do it before things escalated. The Luke situation aside, Beca felt a bit weird bringing Jesse home. He was the first guy ever to bring home so she figured that had to be why she was feeling weird. She liked him quite a lot and really enjoying dating him. He was pretty sweet and had his head above his shoulders. Beca still couldn't fully believe that she really into a guy that wasn't a complete asshole.

She grabbed a bottle of champagne, a bucket of ice, a couple of glasses and headed back to their room.

Jesse was in the bathroom waiting for the jacuzzi to fill up when she walked in. He had stripped down to his boxers and was in front of the mirror trying to get a look at his back.

She took a moment to check him out because the dude was hot.

"Hey, Bec, is this a zit? I can't tell." He pointed at the reddish spot on his lower back.

"Yeah," she answered, shifting her gaze to look at where he was pointing. "Want me to pop it for you?" she offered.

"It doesn't gross you out?"

"Nope," she replied, placing everything she'd been holding down.

"Then please do it." He stepped closer to her.

"I hate how oddly satisfying this is," she mumbled as she walked to the sink to wash her hands once she popped the pimple on his back.

"I know right?" he chuckled, filling up their glasses with champagne.

She took the glass he held her way and took a sip before she walked back to the room, to change into her a bikini because she wasn't going to get into the jacuzzi naked. She couldn't do that to Jesse. He'd been pretty cool with how slowly things were going. She doubted he'd stick around for as long as he had but the dude had been nothing but respectful. He was very patient and easy going which Beca appreciated and admired about him.

Beca rolled her eyes when Jesse let out an over-exaggerated wolf whistle as she walked back into the bathroom having changed into a bikini.

"Damn, Bec," he mumbled, sitting up. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," she smiled curtly at him, digging the way he was looking at her. She liked that he seemed to simply appreciate her physique and wasn't trying to make her uncomfortable by fixating on certain parts or making creepy comments. She liked that his compliment sounded genuine.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek once she was next to him and threw his arm over the jacuzzi. "This is really nice. Thank you for bringing me along."

"Thank you for coming along," she said, reaching to grab the bottle of champagne and refill her glass. "So, this might sound weird but you're the first guy I brought home," she began to say. "Which means mom and Richard will be acting super weird around you."

"Won't be an issue," he was quick to say, "You call me a weirdo all the time so they're very likely on my level. A level that you need to get on." He shook his drink.

"Nope, I think I'm good."

"You do realize that this means you're the weird one, right?"

She rolled her eyes, "Sure, buddy." Beca patted his chest before her eyes fell on his left bicep for a second too long which Jesse caught and decided to acknowledge.

"You like them guns, Becs," he grinned, proceeding to flex his bicep.

She shook her head, mumbling, "you're such a dork."

Jesse ran his fingers across the tattoo on her shoulder before he moved to her side which he knew was a ticklish as she was bringing her glass to her lips. He smiled when she reacted exactly the way he expected by jumping. She had champagne dripping down her neck and did not look very pleased about it.

He couldn't keep the grin off of his face when she shot him a death glare. "Let me help you with that," he figured, leaning in and kissing his way down her neck.

"I don't want any visible hickies." He heard her say as she placed the glass that she'd been holding aside to caress his hair.

"Don't worry," he mumbled against her skin. "My tongue cleaning services are meticulous."

"We're half naked in a freaking jacuzzi, you're kissing my neck, and yet I've never been dryer. Words truly are powerful," she deadpanned to which he laughed. "Also, weird thing to brag about," she added when he looked up from her neck.

"Oh, you'll see why I brag about my meticulous tongue cleaning services at some point," he said, glancing down her cleavage for a second.

"Show me," she smirked at him when he met her gaze.

He was happy to oblige and even happier when he thought of what it meant: she was getting more comfortable around him and more trusting. Going slow might be physically a bit challenging however when they did make progress, it felt very special and warmed his heart beyond words.


	5. Chapter 5

Jesse liked Beca's family. He found Richard's subtle interrogation over dinner endearing. The man cared about his stepdaughter and wanted to make sure she was with a decent guy. Louise was so warm and welcoming that it made it quite hard to believe that she's Beca's mother. Also, her culinary chops were impeccable.

Beca showed him around the city the next day. They took some amazingly cheesy pictures that Beca made him promise not to plaster all over social media. He was having a great time in Seattle and so was Beca.

"You know, at first I wasn't sure getting here a few days before Christmas would be a good idea but I'm glad I was wrong," Beca confessed, flopping down on the bed after a long day outside. Seattle wasn't half as cold as New York City: they could actually walk around.

They only did it for economic reasons, flight tickets around Christmas time were crazy expensive, so they book the cheapest regardless of the date of the flight.

"Why wouldn't it be a good idea?" he asked as he took his sweater, staying in a t-shirt.

"We haven't been together long enough for you to meet my mom and stepdad let alone stay with them for Christmas. Not only that but I'm also getting you involved in a mess that you have nothing to do with and shouldn't have to deal with." She sighed.

"When do you think it's appropriate to meet family?" he found himself wondering as he recalled the fact that she'd never brought a guy home.

"Once you're in a committed relationship," she answered as she watched him step closer to the bed then made room for him by moving to the left.

"Reasonable," he said and laid next to her. "So, like four to six months."

"I guess." She shrugged.

"Huh." Jesse was quiet for a few seconds as he eyed the ceiling before he turned on his side to face Beca. "Next June is my cousin's wedding, would you like go with me and meet my family then?"

"Dude, what?" she very slowly said.

"We started dating back in October. By June, we'd be together for eight months."

"You're thinking way ahead of yourself."

"No, I'm not." He frowned. "Do you not think we'd actually stay together that long?" He was both confused and slightly alarmed.

"I don't know, man." She rested her weight on her elbows. "I mean I hope we do. But you never know with this kind of thing. And, I'm definitely not making it easy with the baggage I've brought into this."

"You're being too cynical and too hard on yourself," he said in response. "We're taking it slow. Things are going great. The baggage you're talking about never affected our relationship. So, please have some faith in us, okay?" Jesse really didn't like where her mind was at but was glad that she let him know what she was thinking so he could talk sense into her head.

"Never _affected_ our relationship?" she echoed in disbelief. "It's the reason we're taking it slow in the first place."

"It never affected us badly, I mean," he clarified.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to which he frowned. "This is exactly why I never have good things," she mumbled to herself. "I get too wrapped up in my own head and ruin whatever good thing I have going."

"You're doing fine, Beca." He reached for her hand and took it in his. "I haven't had this fun dating in a long time."

"Me, too," she smiled before she leaned in to kiss him. She then snuggled up to him once he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'd love to be your date at your cousin's wedding," she told him. "But I'd rather meet your parents before the wedding."

"We can arrange that." He smiled, rubbing her back. "I mean mom is a lot so you have to be mentally prepared which means you're not meeting her any time soon."

"Have you met my mother?" she snorted.

He chuckled, "I think our moms would get along just fine but your mom didn't start drafting the guest list for our wedding the moment she met me. My mom will. She'll also draft a list for baby names suggestions."

Beca lifted her head enough she'd see his face. "You can't be serious."

"I wish I was," he sighed. He loved his mother to pieces but she really was too much sometimes.

"Why would you think meeting your mother for the first time at a _wedding_ would be a good idea?"

He shrugged. "It would be one of those defining moments in a relationship. You'll either stick around or it'll be too much for you and you'll dump my ass."

"Does that mean this trip is also one of those moments?" she found herself wondering.

"M'yeah," he replied after giving it some thought.

* * *

Beca wasn't sure when they had fallen asleep. She was a disoriented when she woke up so it could have been half an hour or ten hours. She sat up and looked at Jesse who was tight asleep and unlike her wasn't awoken by the soft knocking on the door.

She rubbed her eyes before looking at the time to find that it was 7:50 pm then climbed out of bed to get the door.

"Hey, mom," Beca greeted, stifling a yawn.

"I knew you two must've fallen asleep," Louise shook her head a little, glancing inside the room and seeing Jesse fast asleep. "I'm sorry to wake you up, honey," she continued to say keeping her voice low as she talked. "I just came up to let you know that guests should starts to show up around eight-thirty."

"Okay," Beca ran her fingers through her hair. "You look great," she then said, taking a good look at her mother who had changed into her dress for the night and had her makeup and hair done.

"Thanks," Louise smiled. "I should let you go get ready," she realized.

Beca nodded in agreement.

"Oh, before I leave, Luke just got home. He found an early flight. How nice that?"

"Very," Beca deadpanned.

As her mother walked away, Beca closed the door and headed to the bathroom. When she walked out, Jesse was rubbing his eyes as he laid in bed.

"Guests will start showing up at eight-thirty," she told him. "Also, Luke's here."

"I was gonna ask when we should get ready. Guess _that_ answers that." He set his phone aside. "Wasn't he supposed to get here tomorrow?"

"He was, yeah."

Having gotten a glimpse of how being around Luke made Beca feel, Jesse _hoped_ that his presence wouldn't ruin the night for her. Jesse was going to try and prevent any tension from rising since there was going to be a lot of people around and making a scene wasn't an option.

"I can't remember when we fell asleep." He stretched.

"Me neither," she mumbled and walked over to her suitcase to pull out the dress she planned to wear to the party.

"Hey, we're matching!" Jesse exclaimed when he saw that the dress was maroon. "The sweater I'm wearing that exact color." He then proceeded to pull the sweater from his suitcase to show it to her.

She found his excitement with the accidental matching quite adorable. "What are the odds we'd both pick clothes in a color often associated with Christmas?" she sarcastically said.

" _Red_ is associated with Christmas. This is maroon," he clarified. "Two different colors."

"Sure," she said in amusement.

Jesse grabbed his phone to play some music as they got ready for the party Richard and Louise threw every year and invited almost all of their friends which according to Beca was an extravaganza so he was pretty excited to be attending. He connected his phone to the Wi-Fi and tapped on the Spotify icon, planning to play the playlist he put together of the mashups that Beca made.

He swallowed when he received an e-mail notification from a company he had interviewed for a position at. He was ready for another rejection when he tapped on the notification to read the email.

"Dude, you alright?" Beca asked, noticing the change in his facial expression.

"I'm more than alright!" he said, snapping out of his initial haze. "Beca, I got it."

"Huh?" she was a bit confused.

"I got the job. I applied for it like a month ago and thought I blew it but I got it! They just emailed me to tell me that I got it!"

"Oh my god, that's awesome, dude," she said, walking the small distance between them. "Congrats." She extended her arms to hug him only to get enveloped in a bear hug.

"Thanks," he beamed, loosening his hold a little.

"I'm so proud of you," she mumbled, leaning up to kiss him. "You're gonna make people feel things and you're gonna get paid for it," she said, pulling away.

"Yeah," he chuckled.

* * *

Jesse finished getting ready before Beca and just lounged in bed while waiting for her. He went through his camera roll and couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he eyed the pictures from their day around the city. She looked good in every single one of them whether she was flipping him off or rolling her eyes or not even looking at the camera. His favorite photo had to be the one where he was placing a kiss on her cheek while she smiled. She really seemed genuinely happy and not pulling her usual front. He felt a sense of pride that she allowed herself to act naturally around him and not hide behind layers of sarcasm all the time.

He looked up when she stood up, "You done?" he asked.

"Yup." She nodded and glanced at the time. "And we're only twenty minutes late."

"No one cool gets to a party early," he told her, hopping off of the bed. "but then again we're technically already here," he mumbled thoughtfully. "Do we still count as cool if we roll up twenty minutes late?"

"Let's just head down," she sighed, watching him stroke his chin looking quite perplexed.

"Wait," he called.

She looked at him expectantly and _waited_ to hear what had to say.

"You look beautiful," he complimented, running the tips of his fingers over her nicely curled locks.

"Thanks," she smiled curtly. "You look great, too."

"Wow," Jesse mumbled looking around him. "This is awesome."

To put it in a few words the party was the fanciest party he'd been to and he was so glad he wore his fanciest sweater for it.

The entire first floor was filled with guests. There was Christmas music playing in the house. The Christmas decoration for the party was _classy_. Louise Thomson really knew how to plan and organize a fancy party.

"It's definitely something," Beca mumbled back. "I'm gonna get something to eat."

"I'll get us drinks," he figured. "Red wine?" he checked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

As Beca walked towards the buffet, her stomach started to grumble. She couldn't wait to get some food in her. She was grabbing a plate when she saw someone stand next to her from the corner of her eyes and thought it was Jesse for a second which she thought was weird since he should be getting them drinks.

"Becky."

She closed her eyes momentarily recognizing the owner of the voice. "Luke," she called, not tearing her eyes away from the buffet.

"You actually came," he said sounding surprised. "And you brought your _boyfriend_ along," he added.

"I did." She smiled a little to herself because Jesse was right. Luke's jealousy was very obvious in the tone of his voice.

"Funny how you never mentioned him," he casually said. "Louise said you've been seeing him for eight months."

"You and mom talk about me?" she asked in mock-surprise.

"I know you think this is funny." He stepped closer. "I don't," he said in a lower voice that was way less casual and conveyed how he was truly feeling. "And, I certainly don't _like_ that you were two-timing me." He paused for a second. "Two-timing is a shitty thing to do. And shitty actions have even shitter consequences."

"Are you threatening me?" she couldn't help but ask as she finally titled her head to look at him.

He had a hard look in his eyes but it didn't break her. She could pull as hard of a look as well.

"We were never together, Luke. It's not two-timing if we were just hooking up," she said.

"Just hooking up?" he echoed then let out a humorless chuckle.

She frowned because he had to be kidding her if he thought their thing was an actual relationship. "Yes."

She looked behind him, watching Jesse make his way towards them. He held up one of the glasses he was holding in her direction, "Here's your drink, babe," he said before tilting his head to look at Luke. "Oh, hey, man," he smiled curtly at him. "How's it going?" Ever the diplomate, Jesse was never one for hostility off the bat even if he disliked Luke. He was polite enough to not forget his manners and treat others with common curtsy.

Luke gave him one look before he looked back at Beca. "Not very well," he said.

"Well, that sucks." Jesse frowned a little not liking the way Luke was looking at Beca. "You should probably grab a bite, maybe your blood sugar is low or you're just hungry."

Luke scoffed before he turned on his heels.

"Rude," Jesse mumbled before he shot Beca a quizzical look as Luke walked away before he clocked her clenched fist. "You alright?"

She nodded and brought her glass of wine to her lips.

He didn't believe her but he wasn't going to say anything about that if she didn't want to address it. "Okay." He smiled at her. "So, looks like I'm gonna be going to go on a run tomorrow," he told her, glancing at the buffet. "Because I'll be damned if I don't try all of this. I don't even what half of this stuff is." He gestured at the variety of food in front of him.

"Me, too," Beca told him.

"You think your mom would mind if we took some of the leftovers back with us to New York? We could store it in the freezer and it would last us like a month or two and save fuck ton of money. I mean, I know I just got a sweet ass job but I'm still a fiscally responsible adult that wants to save money."

"She wouldn't mind, no," Beca said in amusement. "Also, you won't be running alone tomorrow," she sighed.

"It'll be like a date that ends in us sweating our asses off… while fully dressed. Fun!"

She couldn't help but chuckle a little at his words. "So much fun."

"Hey, I got an idea," he told her. "Why don't we play a game of guessing what's in all of these is then later check with your mom to see who won."

"What's the prize?" She wasn't going to play unless there's a prize.

He was quiet for a few seconds as he thought about it. "The winner gets to plan tomorrow's workout."

"I thought it's just a run."

"It's a workout now. We're going to use Richard's gym." Jesse wasn't surprised when they stopped by the gym while Louise showed him around. The villa was huge. If he lived in it he wouldn't have to leave home ever. It had everything a person could possibly need.

She wasn't _that_ tempted by the prize but after giving it some thought she realized that she'd actually _enjoy_ seeing Jesse break a sweat lifting weight. He had nice arms, so why not? "I'm in."

* * *

The game was fun because they didn't even know who was winning at it. Jesse was overly confident about his taste buds but Beca thought he was full of himself.

They weren't even halfway through trying the buffet when her mother approached them, "Beca," she called.

"Yes?" Beca answered to her name after swallowing what she had been chewing.

"There's an issue with the sound system. Luke's taking care of it. Can you play something on the piano until it's fixed?"

"Sure." Beca shrugged.

"Here, I brought you your old music sheets." She held the folder full of sheets.

"You still have these?" Beca frowned, sucking her teeth, as she accepted the folder.

"Of course, I do," the mother said in amusement.

"This is _years_ of piano lessons, mom," Beca noted as she looked through the sheets.

"Yup." Louise nodded. "I don't know for how long you'll have to play."

Beca shot her mother a look of disbelief.

"Oh, we can take turns playing," Jesse chimed in.

"Perfect!" Louise beamed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Beca mumbled.

"Are there any duets on there?" Jesse asked, stepping closer to Beca as her mother walked away.

"I think so, yeah." She nodded. "Why?"

"I want to play a duet with you," he stated the obvious. "We could do Jingle Bells or Silent Night," he figured.

"I have Mozart's Turkish March," she told him.

"That's not Christmas music."

"Do you want to do a duet or not?" she asked.

"I do."

He followed Beca to the piano and watched her place the music sheet so they could read them then sat down next to her and cracked his knuckles. "Hey, after Mozart, we should play tunes to hip hop music and see who notices."

Beca chuckled. "No one will notice."

"Wanna bet?" he challenged.

"You're on." She was going to win for sure, the room was full of old white rich people. She really doubted they listened to hip hop.

Turkish march was fun to play because it's a duet and duets are always fun. When they started to take turns at playing hip hop songs, things got way more fun. Beca was good. He's a composer, he had to be good at the piano. She was extremely good. And, he was taken away by her technique. They were just messing around and yet he could clearly see how talented she was when she'd jump in with notes from a different song while he was playing something and it would blend perfectly. And holy shit was her talent a turn on.

"You're staring, weirdo," Beca noted, feeling his gaze on her and looking up.

He didn't even realize he'd been staring until she mentioned it. She was hot as it was and the fact that she very clearly mastered his favorite instrument was a huge turn on. He really wanted her.

Instead of using his words, he leaned in and kissed her, trying his best to let her know he was feeling while keeping it appropriate.

Beca stopped playing for the few seconds his lips were on hers.

When he pulled away, he could tell his kiss had an effect on her. She was looking at him differently. He liked that she was just as attracted to him but knew the sexual tension between them wouldn't be resolved any time soon so he had to distract himself.

"I wanna play you something I wrote," he told her.

"Okay," she mumbled.

He sucked in a deep breath as he recalled one of the pieces of wrote a while back and began playing it for her.

Busying himself was a decent distraction for him but it did the exact opposite to Beca.

For the rest of the evening, things were a _little_ intense in the best way possible between them. If he didn't know better, Jesse would think that they were definitely going to have sex with the amount of flirting and subtle touching going on. They were in this own little bubble and no one else was allowed in. He could see Luke sulking in the back but he couldn't care less about him.

* * *

"Can you help me with the zipper?" Beca asked as Jesse stepped out of the bathroom.

"Sure," Jesse said and walked the small distance between them. He placed a hand on her waist while he pulled the zipper down. It took him a second to step away from her and take off his own clothes.

He was feeling hot and he blamed the layers of clothes he had on paired with the heat that came with being slightly drunk.

He huffed when he tried to pull his shirt over his head along with his sweater instead of unbuttoning it and failed.

"Need a little help?" He heard Beca asked in amusement seeing that his shirt got stuck and he couldn't get it over his head.

"Yes," he mumbled.

She unbuttoned the first few buttons closest to his head so that it wasn't stuck anymore then took care of the rest once he pulled his sweater over his head.

She was in her underwear, undressing him. Jesse wouldn't try anything without her permission but it was very hard to resist the temptation because his body was telling him to go for it. Being a little intoxicated made it difficult to ignore what his body wanted. It was quite ridiculous how badly he wanted her. However, unless she explicitly said she wanted to have sex, he wasn't going to initiate anything.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," he decided as she finished unbuttoning his shirt.

"Right now?" she frowned.

"Uh-huh." He rapidly nodded.

"You sure it can't wait until tomorrow?" she questioned before she tip-toed to kiss him.

"Beca, I can't," he sighed and watched her fall back on her heels confused by his words. "I can't _just_ make-out with you right now," he confessed. "I _really really really_ want you and I'm not sure if I can _control_ myself if we start making out. I mean, I won't force you or anything." He paused. "I'll just make you uncomfortable." He rubbed his forehead.

"I thought I made it obvious that I don't want to just make out either," she told him. "I really really really want you, too, dude."

"Oh."

"Yeah," she chuckled at the look of utter surprise on his face.

"Well, in that case, forget I said anything." He proceeded to pick her up and carry her to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Beca was climbing back to bed when Jesse lifted his head, a lazy grin on his face. "Morning," he mumbled, wrapping an arm around her when she was lying next to him.

"Morning," she echoed and ran her fingers through his hair before she placed a peck on his forehead.

"Why are you wearing a t-shirt?" he mumbled, burying his face in her chest. "I don't think you should be wearing any clothes," he told her. "Your boobs look great. If it weren't socially unacceptable, I'd tell you should walk around topless."

"Thanks. I think I'm gonna stick to wearing clothes." She smiled when he looked up still half asleep.

"Your body, your choice, _baby_ ," he said then pulled himself up and went to the bathroom.

When he came back into the room, Jesse got back under the covers because it was too early to start the day. He enveloped Beca in his arms and was ready to fall back asleep but not before he gave Beca a proper good morning kiss. He bushed his teeth when he got up to pee just so he could kiss her and not worry about his breath.

His plans to fall back asleep were scattered because Beca had other _plans_ and he would be crazy not to oblige.

* * *

"Not that I'm complaining or anything but why last night of all nights?" he asked as they recovered from their activities. "I'm just curious."

It was always a big _what if_ sex doesn't end up being good due to incompatible sex drives but thankfully that wasn't the case at all. He was glad they crossed that threshold because he definitely felt closer to her.

She shrugged. "I don't know," she mumbled, playing with his chest hair. "I just really wanted to, I guess. You're really hot when you play the piano."

"I would say the same about you." He watched her rest her head on his chest and then began stroking her hair. "I was very much turned on and I could barely think straight yet I couldn't help notice you highly impressive your technique."

"It's just years of practice, nothing special."

"No, I've had years of practice, that's not it," he disagreed. "It's you. You're so fucking talented."

"Speaking of talent, that piece you played yesterday what's it for?"

"It's just a little thing I've been working on for myself," he told her.

The little thing was about her but he wasn't going to tell her that because she didn't have to know that he started to work on it after their first date and that he'd written a little something inspired by her or the stuff she made him feel here and there for the past couple of months. Jesse was a hopeless romantic, he dealt with his feelings by making music. That's how he rolled. He was going to eventually let her hear the rest of the stuff he'd written either about her or about how she made him feel at some point.

"Well, I really like it."

"It's a panty dropper, I know," he said in amusement.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear you say that," Beca deadpanned.

"I stand by it," he chuckled. "And, I'm also very glad you liked it."

They laid in silence for quite some time until Jesse spoke, "You still down to hit the gym together?"

"Yeah," she answered. "But, like, we don't know who won. And we won't know unless we get a hold of the catering company and actually get them to tell us." Of course, the food served at the party was catered and Louise couldn't tell them what it was all made of. It was too fancy to be homemade and Louise and Richard weren't going to cheap out on the food at their Christmas party.

"You can plan the workout," he said. "I ate a lot and I had too much wine. I need a tough workout. Get creative and give me hell."

"You will regret giving me so much freedom," she let him know to which he shrugged.

"I don't think I will," he countered. "I have to get in shape, can't have you leaving me 'cause I don't have a six pack."

"Where did that come from?" she snorted.

"You like your men like you like your meatballs: beefy," he went on to say.

"First of all, ew," she grimaced. "Secondly, what made you think I like ripped dudes?"

"The fact that I always catch looking at my _guns_." He decided to only refer to his biceps as guns just because it made Beca roll her eyes at him. "That, and also Luke. He's tall, handsome, has a full head of amazing blond hair, and he's super ripped. Dude is like my nemesis." He wasn't going to deny being a tiny bit jealous of Luke's super model looks because he was.

"You sure _nemesis_ is the word you're looking for?" she suggestively said.

"Shut up." He found himself rolling his eyes.

"If you do get in better shape, do it for yourself. Don't do it for me or anyone else." She leaned up to peck his lips.

* * *

Beca opted for the treadmill while Jesse suffered through the workout that she planned for him. She was wondering how long it would take him before he'd tell her that he'd had enough and put a stop to her workout plan from hell.

"You alright?" Beca checked, slightly worried she took it too far when Jesse laid down like a starfish on the floor once he was done.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Can you pass me the bottle of water? I'm pretty sure I managed to sweat all of the water out of my body."

"Here." She held the bottle his way and watched him pull himself into a sitting position. "Pace yourself, man," she told him when he started to chug down the water.

He did slowdown a little at her remark then placed the bottle aside and tried to get up only to struggle then give up. "You did this to me," he mockingly accused her to which she rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you big baby," she sighed and gave him her hands to help him.

He pulled her down weakly and she let him. She got down on her knees and cupped his face. "You should stretch," she advised.

He sucked in a deep breath then nodded before he proceeded to stretched.

* * *

Jesse was very, _very_ tired. They showered together and she basically cleaned him up because his arms hurt and he couldn't move—he could but he liked that she was helping him and let her— He then barely dried himself before he put on a pair of boxers and climbed on the bed.

"Don't fall asleep, I'm gonna go get us breakfast and be back," she told him.

"Okay," he mumbled. "Thanks."

* * *

Beca was singing under her breath she fixed them a pretty healthy post-workout breakfast, that she actually googled, and didn't notice her mother walking into the kitchen until she said, "You're in a good mood."

Beca glanced at her. "And you're all dressed up." She frowned. "Were you out?" It was quite early yet her mother did seem like she just got home.

"Yes. I went to the farmer's market before it got too crowded. I had to get everything for tonight."

"Going all out, huh?"

"Like every year." Louise shrugged. "You'd remember if you actually came for Christmas more often."

"Mom," Beca groaned. "It's honestly too early for guilting me over not coming home enough."

"Okay, okay, okay," The mother held her hands up in defeat. "Sorry. I'll save it for a later time when you're actually not here."

"Thank you."

"What I won't save for when you're back in New York is a talk about your boyfriend," Louise told her.

' _There goes my good mood,'_ Beca thought to herself. "What about him?" Beca mumbled as she focused on the pancakes she was making.

"I don't get why it's taken you this long to introduce him to me _properly_ ," the mother thoughtfully said. "He's such a lovely guy. And, you two are very clearly heads over heels for each other."

' _Because it hasn't been that long,'_ Beca wanted to say.

"I can't help but wonder if you're embarrassed by me."

"I'm not embarrassed by you, mom." Beca rolled her eyes. "I just…" she trailed off, trying to sort out her thoughts. Lying to her mother made her feel like shit. She could ignore the feeling when they were in different time zones. However, being around her made it hard not to just tell her everything which she couldn't bring herself to do either. So, yeah, she was felt really bad.

"I was worried it's too good to be true. I was worried he'd turn out to be a dickhead—No, I was waiting for him to fuck up so we'd go our separate ways—I'm not easy to be with so decent guys never really stick around." Everything she said was from the heart and she did have those fears but she liked to think that they were fading as time went by. However, it wasn't the whole truth because decent guys weren't people she usually wanted to be with. She knew the whole going for assholes thing was a reflection of her commitment issues: she dated dudes who she knew would leave.

Jesse wasn't an asshole and she wasn't running for the hill which was pretty unusual for her.

"I understand," Louise softly said. "For what it's worth, I think he's genuinely a good guy." She tucked Beca's hair behind her ear before she cupped her cheek. "And, I also think that although you're a little rough around the edges, you're a _good_ person who deserves all the love in the world."

Beca felt the need to crack a joke whenever things felt heavy yet she couldn't bring herself to say anything because her mother was being very serious and she knew any joke she'd make would ruin the moment so she just nodded.

"I'm really happy for you, Becs." Louise patted Beca's cheek before she stepped away to unpack everything she bought. "I hope Jesse turns out to be the one 'cause your babies would look so cute," she casually said.

Beca's eyes winded in horror what she heard. "No. No babies! Ever." She shook her head.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am," Beca firmly said as she grabbed a tray and placed it on the kitchen island.

She then put the avocado egg toast, the healthy version of pancakes that actually tasted good, and a couple of glasses of strawberry banana shake on a tray and hurried out of the kitchen.

Still shaking off the feelings of horror that her mother's words brought, Beca unlocked the guestroom's door and sighed seeing that Jesse was laying on his stomach.

"Jess, you up?" she asked.

"Yes," came his answer as he lifted his head to look at her before he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

She handed him the tray before she joined him on the bed.

"So, what do you wanna do today?" he wondered as they ate breakfast.

"Nothing," she told him. "I want to stay in bed all day and do nothing at all."

She'd been having fun these past few days, showing him around the city and then socializing at the party but she was still an introvert at heart and she needed some quiet time. Jesse understood that very well because his best friend's introvert as well. "Yeah, I down to sloth it out." He nodded. "We can check out what's on Netflix," he figured, gesturing at the TV in facing their bed.

"Cool," she mumbled.

* * *

Because Jesse was a good guest, he offered to help Louise with setting up the table for dinner. She was making a _feast_ that he was dying to eat and wouldn't let him or anyone else help. (Unlike the food served at the Christmas party, Christmas dinner was homemade.) He was setting forks for everyone when he saw Luke stop by the bar and fill the glass that he brought with him with whiskey. He then followed his gaze to see where the blonde was looking and saw that he was eyeing Beca who was outside on the phone with her dad.

Luke placed the bottle back on the shelve and brought his drink to his lips before he made his way outside, joining Beca.

Beca tilted her head hearing the door get unlocked and when she saw who it was, she frowned. She'd been avoiding Luke like the pledge so far and he wasn't getting the hint that she really didn't want to talk to him. She thought that he'd seen enough of her and Jesse being all over each other to get that she was really over him and leave her alone for good.

"Hang on, I wanna talk," he told her, blocking her way when she tried to get inside having finished her phone call.

"What do you want?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

He rubbed his face, sighing, "Honestly." He paused. "You."

"Dude, I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, I know." He took a sip from his whiskey. "I also know you. There's no way you're serious about him. You're probably two-timing him still."

"Oh my god." She rolled her eyes. "Enough with the two-timing bullshit. You sound like a broken record."

"I'm right, though!" he exclaimed. "You're not really serious about him. You're just doing this to get under my skin and it's working." He stepped closer to her.

"Not everything is about you, Luke."

"I'm not done talking," he mumbled, grabbing her by the arm to stop her when she tried to walk away.

He was gripping her upper arm hard enough it hurt. "Let go of my arm," she calmly said as she held his gaze.

"Will you throw a punch if I don't?" He smirked. "You know it turns me on when you do that," he lowered his voice a little.

"Luke, I want absolutely nothing to do with you," she firmly said.

"See I don't believe you," he sighed. "You can't be with a cookie cutter man for long. He'll bore you out eventually and you'll start to look for someone that matches your tempo and also tolerates your bullshit."

She rolled her eyes at his words, "Someone like you, you mean?"

"Listen, I won't wait around for you forever," he told her behind gritted teeth as he tightened his grip on her arm. "So, don't come running back to me when it's too late."

She'll admit that the look in his eyes was unsettling but she maintained eye contact. "Let. Go. Of. My. Arm," she calmly said despite the fact she was extremely mad.

Luke tilted his head when Beca did to look at the door when someone unlocked it to find Jesse.

"Everything alright out here?" Jesse asked, his eyes set on the grip that Luke had on Beca's arm.

"We're just talking, mate," Luke said in boredom.

"Why don't you keep your hands to yourself, Luke?" Jesse asked.

Luke rolled his eyes and dropped his hand, stuffing it in his pocket instead. "Overprotective much?"

"Intrusive much?" Jesse countered.

Jesse had had it with Luke and was done playing nicely and acting unbothered by his rudeness.

"If anyone is being intrusive it's you, mate," Luke was saying as he turned around to face Jesse. "You don't have to be glue to your girlfriend around the clock," he deadpanned.

Jesse was about to say something back when Beca spoke, "Knock it off, Luke." She paused for a second and then shook her head. "I'm not doing this," she murmured to herself but Jesse didn't miss it. "Come on, let's go inside," she then said, addressing Jesse.

He nodded and followed her back into the house. He silently trailed behind her until they were in the second floor and headed to their room. "Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded and unlocked the door. "I just need a minute to cool off." She ran her fingers through her hair.

"You can't keep letting him off the hook," he said in disbelief and frowned at the look she shot him but continued anyway. "I see how he looks at you. It's creepy and I don't like it. I understand if he _scares_ you, Beca, but you can't let him get away with how he's treated you. I can't let him get away with it."

"Jesus, Jesse," she exclaimed, taking him by surprise. "Who do you think I am? Some broken girl that can't fend for herself? I can deal with Luke. Stay out of this."

"Okay, I get that you're pissed off right now but you don't have to take it out on me," he said in response but unlike her his tone wasn't aggressive. "I'm just trying to help."

"Well, I don't need your help," she replied. "You're not my boyfriend so please back off!"

"Got it." He nodded curtly and turned on his heels, leaving the room before things escalated. He found her words to be hurtful because he really thought they were solid that it wouldn't be long before they put a label on their relationship. Unlike her, he wasn't going to let his emotions control what came out of him so he decided to let her cool down before he spoke to her again.

* * *

Jesse rubbed his face, entering the study at the end of the haul. He needed a few minutes before he could go down and socialize with the hosts. He stood in front of a bookcase and scanned the book titles to see what kind of literature the Thomson's were into. He smiled a little seeing the Lord of the Rings book series by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Hearing a soft knock on the door, he tilted his head to find a very remorseful looking Beca at the door.

"I'm sorry, Jesse," she apologized. "I know you're mad. I know I shouldn't have yelled at you—"

He frowned, "—Seriously? You think I'm mad you yelled at me?"

"—I know."

"No, you don't know. You think you know, but you don't. You push away anyone who could possibly care about you. Why is that?"

"I don't know," she quietly said with a shrug.

"Well, you better go figure it out if you want—" He gestured to the two of them. "—whatever this this to work."

Jesse really cared about her and saw a future with her but she had to give him more than an _I don't know._ _I don't know_ wasn't reassuring. _I don't know_ didn't mean she wouldn't push him away again.

* * *

Jesse tried to act like nothing was wrong over dinner because as upset as he was, their hosts had nothing to do with anything going on. Beca was quietly eating and claimed to have a headache when asked if she's okay by her mother.

Luke seemed to be having the time of his life. He quickly figured out that Beca and Jesse had some kind of an argument and it brightened his mood.

"It's complicated, Louise," Luke sighed when Louise asked him if there was someone special in his life. "She's going through a phase but she's gonna come to her senses soon," he elaborated.

"A phase?" Richard puzzled.

"Yeah," Luke nodded. "She quit her job to sleep all day and party all night. She also started going out with some leech."

Jesse tried to hide his surprise at what Luke just said. Beca looked up from her plate and despite the poker face, Jesse could tell that she was just as surprised to hear that Luke knew that she left her job at the label.

"But I know her. She'll come around," he confidently said.

"Or maybe she moved on, man," Beca said to which he snorted.

"You don't know her like I do," he replied.

Beca shot him a look of disbelief and clenched her jaw when he smiled knowingly at her. She then looked down at her plate while tapping her fork against it before she looked up again. "Mom," she called. "Luke's talking about me," she finally confessed. "We dated. And, it wasn't healthy. I never told you about him because I'm ashamed to have gotten into such a toxic relationship and let it last for as long as it had." She blew a breath. "Luke's been pestering me ever since he got here and wouldn't leave me alone despite the fact that I told him I've moved on and that I'm serious about Jesse," she informed. "I quit my job because I basically lost my integrity and I hated the music I was making. I didn't tell you or dad 'cause I didn't want you to worry about me."

Jesse could tell that it was really hard for her to come clean like that, admitting that she felt ashamed for dating Luke and that she was unhappy with her career. Her decision to keep it all to herself and push her parents away was starting to make sense—She just wanted them to be proud of her—But it still didn't explain why she'd push _him_ away.

"Do you care to explain yourself, Luke?" Richard asked.

"What do you want me to say?" Luke defensively questioned. "She's obviously lying!"

"Might wanna take a look at the footage from surveillance camera outside on the porch. Luke grabbed me by the arm and wouldn't let me go back inside the house," Beca said in response, subconsciously rubbing her arm that was most likely starting to bruise.

"You son of a bitch! How dare you hurt my daughter?" Louise snapped. "Out," she said. "Get out of my house!"

"Mom, calm down," Beca said.

"No, I won't," the mother replied. "I won't tolerate abusive behavior. Get out!"

Luke tilted his head to look at his father who then said, "you heard her."

The blond man got up and without saying another word left, slamming the door as he exited the house.

Silence fell in the room as they all processed what just happened. Jesse wasn't surprised with Louise's reaction at all. He didn't doubt for a second that she'd believe Beca.

"I'm so sorry, honey," Louise sympathized.

"Don't be 'cause I'm not a victim, mom," Beca stated. "I was just as bad as him. I mean, yeah, he'd grab me and yell at me. But I yelled back. And, I definitely hurt him back." She squeezed her hand in a fist. "If you're gonna be mad you should be mad at us both. But don't feel bad for me."

"Beca, you walked away from a toxic relationship that he's been trying to pull you back in ever since he got here. You're not like him," Louise reasoned. "Please, don't compare yourself to him."

"And, don't worry about Luke bothering you anymore. I'll make sure he never comes near you again," Richard assured. "But if you feel like you'd be safer if you filled a restraining order against him then be it."

Although it was his own son, Richard was very firm in his words. Beca really had one hell of a supportive family and Jesse really hoped this whole thing would make her realize that she was wrong to push them away and that she should never keep them in the dark because they clearly had her back. Her life choices didn't change that.

"No, that won't be necessary," she assured. "I'm sorry for ruining Christmas dinner," Beca apologized earnestly, leaning into her mother's embrace when the older woman wrapped her arm around her.

"It's okay," Louise mumbled. "I'm glad you told us," she sighed, rubbing Beca's arm.

Beca's eyes fell on Jesse who had been quietly watching her as he sat across from her. She held his gaze for a few seconds—he figured she wanted to talk so he curtly nodded— Beca sat up and said, "Could you excuse us for a minute?"

"Sure," Louise mumbled.

Jesse followed Beca's lead to the kitchen and watched her run her fingers through her hair as she leaned against the counter facing him. "I lied," she started to say. "I know why I pushed you, and everyone that gives a fuck about me really, away." She looked away from his eyes briefly before looking back at him. "I don't want your help because I don't want to depend on you only for you to leave once I get used to having you around. Then, I'll be back on my own and it'll suck," she explained. "It just feels safer to deal with things on my own."

"It's also very lonely," he pointed out as he began making his way to her.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I don't want to be lonely," she admitted. "I know I fucked up. Not just with you. I fucked up my career by working on projects I hated. I fucked up my relationships with my parents by pushing them away and constantly lying to them so that I wouldn't disappoint them. I fucked up my financial situation by going into my savings 'cause I impulsively quit my job." She paused for a second. "I'm a fuck-up, Jesse," she confessed. "And, I don't be like this. I wanna get my life back on track. I want you to be a part of my life. I want us to work, dude."

"Me, too." Jesse was more than willing to put in the extra work to tear down the wall that she built around herself to avoid getting hurt and feel safe. As long as they both wanted the same thing, he wasn't going to give up on her. "We'll make this work," he confidently said, reaching to cup her cheek before he leaned in to kiss her.

She kissed him back, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist.

Jesse was the first to pull away and couldn't help but frown a little at the very nervous look on Beca's face.

He was about to ask her what's wrong when she spoke. "Um, do you wanna be together… like girlfriend and boyfriend together?" she very awkwardly asked.

"Yes," he grinned. "I'd love to be girlfriend and boyfriend together."

"Cool," she smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this short story.   
> Let me know what you think of it. (I might write a follow-up to it)  
> Stay home. Stay safe. 💗


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